Generally, in the US, if you have health insurance, your employer pays for most of it. Individuals could not afford it on their own, so, as a consequence, if your employer does not provide health insurance, generally, you are un-insured.

Thanks. Over here, an averagely paid employee will pay about £170 a month tax called National Insurance. This pays for healthcare, state pension and a few other benefits.

The nice thing about it is that you are still fully covered even if you are not working. e.g. below working age, unemployed (or unable to work) or retired and there are no exemptions for pre-existing conditions which I hear about in the US system.

Our system does have its faults, mostly due to bureaucracy, but we wouldn't want to be without it. From what I can tell, the German system is similar to ours but with less bureaucracy and shorter (if any) waiting times. I think the German system is what we would like ours to be.

Steve.

"People who say things won't work are a dime a dozen. People who figure out how to make things work are worth a fortune" - Dave Rat.